Australian Aviation

The investment, funded from the Flying Kangaroo’s profits, is in addition to $150 million that has already been budgeted, and comes not long after new CEO Vanessa Hudson recorded a video apology to customers for the airline’s recent missteps.

Registered VH-8JS, the plane touched down at just after 10pm on Friday in Brisbane after a ferry flight from Singapore, where it had undergone repainting and heavy maintenance. The nine-year-old aircraft formerly operated for SilkAir as 9V-MGB.

The cuts will begin on 30 October and include services from Sydney to Orange, Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour.

It significantly follows Qantas scrapping its own deadline entirely and Rex going further by automatically putting the money back into customers’ bank accounts.

The gala event – held by Australian Aviation’s sister brand Defence Connect – saw 30 trophies presented and included an address by the Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko.

Vanessa Hudson admitted in a video message that the Flying Kangaroo has not “delivered the way [it] should have”, and pledged to overhaul customer policies, make Qantas more passenger-friendly and rebuild Australians’ trust in the national carrier.